Multiyear calendar

ABSTRACT

A multiyear calendar has a barrel formed on a ballpoint pen or the like and provided with date indicia in the form of a calendar array numbered from 1-31 and extending around the cylindrical body of the barrel in seven columns. Axially offset from this array are six circumferential extending and axially spaced rows each subdivided also into seven equal spaces at least five of which are provided with year indicia. A sleeve rotatable on the barrel is provided with windows registrable with the columns of the date array, and day indicia under each window. Below the day indicia are formed 12 further year windows each associated with month indicia. These windows are arranged in six rows registrable with the year indicia with two windows per row and each row labeled for two consecutive months of the year. The month windows for the months of January-August are spaced apart by a circumferential distance equal to three day columns, the month windows for the months of September-December are spaced only two apart.

States May 14, 1974 MULTIYEAR CALENDAR [76] Inventor: Franz-Josef Kiiper, Kiefernstrasse 7a, 437 Marl, Germany 22 Filed: Apr. 17, 1972 21 Appl. No; 244,403

[52] US. Cl. 40/335, 40/114 Primary ExaminerRobert Wt Michell Assistant Examiner-J. H. Wolfe Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Karl F. Ross; Herbert Dubno [57] ABSTRACT A multiyear calendar has a barrel formed on a ball-.

point pen or the like and provided with date indicia in the form of a calendar array numbered from 1-31 and extending around the cylindrical body of the barrel in seven columns. Axially offset from this array are six circumferential extending and axially spaced rows each subdivided also into seven equal spaces at least five of which are provided with year indicia. A sleeve rotatable on the barrel is provided with windows registrable with the columns of the date array, and day indicia under each window. Below the day indicia are formed 12 further year windows each associated with month indicia. These windows are arranged in six rows registrable with the year indicia with two windows per row and each row labeled for two consecutive months of the year. The month windows for the months of January-August are spaced apart by a circumferential distance equal to three day columns, the month windows for the months of September-December are spaced only two apart.

2 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures I MULTIYEAR CALENDAR FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a multiyear calendar.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION fallen on. Generally a clerk or the like who must ascertain this information has recourse to a chart which carries 14 different calendars corresponding to years start-- ing on the 7 days of the weeks and the leap years corresponding to these years, and which also has an index indicating what particular monthly calendar to use for a particular year. Such a chart is' often either excessively large or extremely difficult to read.

Alternately calculating devices exist which comprise a wheel or a pair of sliding members that allow the user to view a particular calendar when he has arranged the year desired, or the year and month desired, in a predetermined position. Such devices are invariably unwieldly or difficult to operate and use.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved multiyear calendar.

Another object is the provision of such a calendar which is very easy to use and extremely compact.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION These objects are attained according to the present invention by forming the multiyear calendar as a writing instrument provided with one or more sleeves which may be rotated to provide a calendar for any month of any of a plurality of years. More specifically the body of the writing instrument or the like is subdivided into seven axially extending angularly equispaced columns of equal width and the numbers 1-31 are written in these columns either in rows one other the other or in a continuous helix. Thus each column had four or five numbers, each number being seven greater than the number above and/or seven less than the number below it in the same column.

The sleeve is similarly subdivided into seven columns which may register with the-aforementioned number columns, each of the sleeve columns bearing an indication of a day of the week, so that these weekdays may be lined up with the numbers to give any possible 31- day calendanOf course for shorter months the last few days are just disregarded. I

Thus the writing instrument is a barrel and a monthand-year selector means on the barrel and on the sleeve include month'and year indicia which may be angularly juxtaposed to align the day indicia on the sleeve with the date indicia on the barrel so as to give the correct calendar for the month and year desired. Accord ing to another feature of this invention the year indicia are arranged in six circumferential rows around the sleeve or barrel and each divided into seven axially extending angularly equispaced zones at least five of which bear numbers indicating at least 5 different years for each circumferentialrow. If a continuous range is included with l intercalary year, 6 years will fit; and if 2 intercalary years fall in the span, only 5 years will fit in the given seven spaces. Windows are provided, two per year row, which each are associated with a month indicia so that juxtaposition of the, for example, January window with a given year will align the day indicia with the date indicia in the correct manner. The four rows corresponding to the months of January-February, March-April, May-June, and July-August have their windows spaced apart by a distance equal to three times the distance between adjoining date or day columns. The other two rows, corresponding toSeptember-0ctober and November-December have their two windows spaced apart by only twice this distance, since the start-determining months of September and November only have 30 days.

The year indicia, according to a feature of the present invention, may be printed on the barrel and the month indicia and the corresponding windows may be provided on the sleeve.

Alternatively it is possible to print the year indicia in a particular color on the sleeve and have these indicia alignable with windows of another color pointed on a field of the same color on the barrel as the year printing. In this manner only those years the sleeve which over lie windows of another color are readable. In this case the month indicia also must be printed on the barrel preferably axially offsetfrom each window. Such an embodiment allows the range to be changed by simple replacement of the sleeve.

The writing instrument according to the present invention may be a ballpoint pen, a fountain pen, or a mechanical pencil; however, a replaceable cartridge ballpoint pen is preferred.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The above and other objects, features, and advantages will become apparent from the following drawing,

reference being made to the accompanying drawing in which: I

SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION The multiyear or perpetual calendar comprises a barrel 200 (FIG. 2) and a sleeve (FIG. 1) of substantially like circumference L and outer and inner diameter respectively, each divided into seven axial columns of a width 1 equal to L/7. In addition the sleeve l00and barrel 200 are each subdivided axially into thre'e respective dircumferential zones 110, 120, 130, and 210, 220, 230.

The barrel 200 is provided in its zone 210 with a calendar array 218 arranged in seven axial rows 211-217 numbered from left to right 1-3 1. These numbers constitute date indicia and may be arranged, as shown, in five parallel rows, or may be provided in a single helical row having a pitch just equal to its axial height. In either case such an array corresponds to that of a calendar wherein each number is seven greater than the number immediately above and/or seven smaller than the number immediately below in the same column.

The zone 220 is left blank on the barrel 200 and the zone 230 is subdivided into an upper subzone 2310 of four rows 2,311-2,314 and a lower subzone 2320 of two rows 2321 and 2322. The subzone 2,310 is also subdivided into seven columns 231-237 in line with the date columns 211-217. The subzone 2320 is subdivided into columns 241-247 which are equispaced around the barrel and offset from the columns 231-237 by a distance equal to 1/2 or L/14.

Each row 2,3112,314 and 2,3212,322 carry five date indicia. Here for the sake of illustration the years of 1969-1973 have been used, abbreviated to 69-73 Since eaifs'fich'BWBEEEbftwo must be left blank. The year 1972 is an intercalary or leap year so that a space must be left between it and 1973. It would be possible to provide an indicia 74 to the left of the indicia 73; here a dot has been'shown. The five numbers are consecutive and read from right to left since each year starts a day earlier than the previous year and years following leap years start 2 days earlier. This will become apparent below.

As seen in FIG. 1 the sleeve 100 is formed in its zone 110 with seven columnar windows 111-117 which are equispaced around its circumference. These windows 111-117 are shaped to register with the calendar array 218, to allow all of its date indicia to be visible.

The zone 120 of the sleeve 100, which directly overlies the zone 220 of barrel 220, is provided with indicia 121 corresponding to the days of the week readable from left to right. Each day indicia 121 is the threeletter abbreviation of a day of the week.

The sleeve 100 is formed in its zone 130, which overlies the zone 230 of the barrel 200 with 12 windows 131 arranged in four columns 131-134. This zone 130 is subdivided into two subzones 1,310 and 1,320 corresponding to the subzones 2,310 and 2,320. The upper subzone 1310 is provided with eight such windows 137 arranged in columns 131 and 133 separated by a distance equal to 21, or L/3.5. The centers of the columns 131 and 133 lie of course at a distance of 3] apart.

In the embodiment shown the columns 131 and 133 line up with the columns 111 and 114. It is possible to provide the columns 131 and 133 anywhere around the sleeve so long as the spacing between windows of the same row is kept at three columns.

The first four odd-numbered months are indicated next to the windows 137 of the column 131 by means of month indicia 138 comprising a numeral and the abbreviation for these months.

The first four even-numbered months are similarly indicated at the windows of the column 133.

The last 4 months of the year are arranged next to windows in the subzone 1,320 which are arranged in two axial column 132 and 134 separated by a space equal to 1. Thus their centers are spaced apart by a distance equal to 2 days or 21.

For a period of time such as 1897-1903 or 2097- 2103 which has no leap year, all seven spaces in the rows of zone 230 can be filled, however such a condition happens only three times every 400 years. Under normal conditions 5 or 6 years will be enterable on such a multiyear calendar.

FIG. 3 shows how the barrel 200 is part of a writing instrument, here a ballpoint pen 101. Such a mounting allows the user to find out on what day of the week any 4 given date in the year span of 1969 to 1973 will fall.

The sleeve has been set to indicate the months of the years of the covered period on which a Wednesday falls on the thirteenth. It can be seen that January, 1971, May, 1970, September, 1972 etc. have such a day. Since the calendar year of 1975 is identical to that of 1969, double entry in the appropriate box would further stretch the scale. The year of 1968 cannot be similarly entered nor can 1976, since identical leap years only repeat every 28 years.

Since there are only seven possible positions of sleeve 100 relative to pen 200, which positions are advantageously established by an indexing arrangement, finding of the correct calendar for a given date is a simple matter. No longer need recourse by made to complicated charts. All the user need do is find the appropriate month indicia on the sleeve and then rotate the barrel in the sleeve through no more than six positions to arrive at the desired year indication at which point he has formed the desired calendar. No prior-art multiyear calendar is so convenient. It is also possible to provide several such calendars with separate sleeves on a single pen. Furthermore the extreme simplicity of manufacture makes such a calendar ideal for use as a business favor since it adds only a small price to the manufacturing costs ofa pen or the like which iscustomarily given away.

I claim:

1. A multiyear calendar comprising:

a barrel having seven angularly equispaced columns of date indicia forming a single 31-day calendar array extending completely around said barrel;

a sleeve rotatable on and surrounding said barrel while being provided with seven angularly equispaced indicia representing days of the week and axially alignable with said columns, said sleeve being formed with windows exposing said barrel therethrough; and

month-and-year selector means on said barrel and on said sleeve including month and year indicia for angular juxtaposition of a selected month indicia with a selected year indicia whereby said date and day indicia are properly aligned with one another to form a calendar for the desired month, said year indicia being provided on said barrel, said month indicia being adjacent respective windows provided on said sleeve, said month and year indicia being each arranged in six respective circumferentially extending and axially spaced rows, the month indicia for January and February being provided in one row and being spaced apart by two spaces;

the month indicia for March and April being provided in one row and being spaced apart by two spaces;

the month indicia for May and June being provided in one row and being spaced apart by two spaces;

the month indicia for July and August being provided in one row and being spaced apart by two spaces;

the month indicia for September and October being provided in one row and being spaced apart by one space only; and

the month indicia for November and December being provided in one row and being spaced apart by one space only, said month indicia for January- August being arranged in two axial columns spaced said columns for January-August, said sleeve being apart by two spaces and said month indicia for Sepformed with seven windows registrable with said tember-December being arranged in two axial colcolumns of said date array.

umns spaced apart by one space only, said columns 2. The calendar defined in claim 1 wherein said barfor said month indicia of September-December 5 re] is a ballpoint-pen body being axially offset from and generally between 

1. A multiyear calendar comprising: a barrel having seven angularly equispaced columns of date indicia forming a single 31-day calendar array extending completely around said barrel; a sleeve rotatable on and surrounding said barrel while being provided with seven angularly equispaced indicia representing days of the week and axially alignable with said columns, said sleeve being formed with windows exposing said barrel therethrough; and month-and-year selector means on said barrel and on said sleeve including month and year indicia for angular juxtaposition of a selected month indicia with a selected year indicia whereby said date and day indicia are properly aligned with one another to form a calendar for the desired month, said year indicia being provided on said barrel, said month indicia being adjacent respective windows provided on said sleeve, said month and year indicia being each arranged in six respective circumferentially extending and axially spaced rows, the month indicia for January and February being provided in one row and being spaced apart by two spaces; the month indicia for March and April being provided in one row and being spaced apart by two spaces; the month indicia for May and June being provided in one row and being spaced apart by two spaces; the month indicia for July and August being provided in one row and being spaced apart by two spaces; the month indicia for September and October being provided in one row and being spaced apart by one space only; and the month indicia for November and December being provided in one row and being spaced apart by one space only, said month indicia for January-August being arranged in two axial columns spaced apart by two spaces and said month indicia for September-December being arranged in two axial columns spaced apart by one space only, said columns for said month indicia of September-December being axially offset from and generally between said columns for January-August, said sleeve being formed with seven windows registrable with said columns of said date array.
 2. The calendar defined in claim 1 wherein said barrel is a ballpoint-pen body. 